The Dream of Me Doing Reality TV

I'm not a fan of reality TV. Except for watching "RuPaul's Drag Race," which I view as a comedy almost, I don't make an effort to watch any of them. So last night's dream (or this morning's dream) is puzzling, but...

It started as a car chase that ended up in a large parking lot. I appeared to be friends with the pair of guys in the chased car. I directed them to stop and kill their lights in a parking spot, while their pursuers blocked the exit. When one guy asked me what to do, I suggested he drive through a neighboring yard quietly on the opposing end. He did and their car escaped.

I wasn't sure what the goal of this show was, but as people were eliminated, they were carted off to "The Woods." The image when this was described was that of a dead person bound to pole with a flag and being dragged into a forest by a single man on horseback.

The next thing I recall is being in a group of four, the other three was a unremarkable man, a young lady who loved wine, a bumbling older man. We were in some dusty, apparently Asian area. We were looking for a particular shop which the young lady found, by pulling a false exterior wall open. We had to enter by climbing up rungs on the brick wall. To help our bumbler, the young lady gave him a sash tied to an armoire to tug on. The armoire ended up being pulled out the entrance and crashed below.

The bartender at the bar was telling us a story about the river. I could see it flowing out the window, but it seemed to flow like a cartoon river, not like real water. He told the tale of how a sole boy worshipped the river and was granted complete control over it. I'm not sure, but this may have been what we were after.

The bartender seemed to take a dislike to me. He was going to make me a "special drink." He pulled a small cylindrical, badly woven basket and put a bottle up to it. A tentacle came out and drank from the bottle. It was like a snake, but it didn't have eyes, but a mouth. The bartender shook the basket up and down several times then decanted a milky, watery fluid into a glass. He then poured another liquid into the same glass and the contents turned blood red. He pour another and the mix turned as clear as water.

Before he could serve me the drink, we were leaving. I asked about the drink and the bartender waived me away. We exited through a hidden door behind a refrigerator. As we came down, we met with other competitors and found that they were taking our cell phones. I gave the coordinator mine and she asked was this all -- instant messaging, phone, etc. I replied that it was, but then I looked and it was an older flip phone, not my iPhone. I checked it and it had all my phone numbers, photos, everything, but I suspect my phone was exchanged.

The last image was my climbing through another odd entrance to find an Asian woman, in full kimono, preparing to clip coupons.

Dreams are so strange, but they can be fun.

George Perez, The Cincinnati Comic Expo, & More

I managed to walk through two days of the Cincinnati Comic Expo and had a good time. I even talked longtime MIA cubtharsis into joining the melee.

The main attraction for me was meeting George Perez. I got there as it opened and made a bee line for his booth. There was a small line already, which quadrupled in minutes after I got there.

I normally don't get ga-ga over celebrities. I admire their work, but as a person I don't feel the need to get autographs or photos. George Perez is one of the very few I have dreamed of meeting. I've been a fan of his for over 30 years and have tried to emulate his work, his amazing sense of detail, etc. After two hours in line, I got to the table where I asked him to draw Marvel's Hercules. It took him four minutes and then got a photo with him with the drawing. Yeah, I'm acting like a goober, but it truly does reflect how I felt at that moment -- pure amazement. It was a bucket list moment for me.


George drawing Hercules, George and Me with the Hercules drawing, and George working on Firestorm for another attendee
We ran around for the rest of the day, buying comic books, tee-shirts and posters, and saying hi to other friends who were attending.

Afterward, we went to dinner then cubtharsis and I hit the USS Nightmare for a scare, caught up over coffee at Starbucks, and hit the 701 Bar for a beer. I got home at 1 AM, exhausted.

I went back to the Expo yesterday for a couple of hours. George Perez had a much shorter line on day two. I heard that the crowded line had already been there and gone that morning. I got back in line and watched him draw Aquaman for a pretty blonde lady. I thought about getting Wonder Girl or Troia drawn, but instead wanted the long-haired and bearded version of Aquaman instead (it fits the bearish theme of the art on my walls in my comic book room). It was amazingly detailed and just stunning. Both of the pieces I had him do are below:


Hercules and Aquaman
After all that walking around on concrete floors, running my usual four mile run, and my chest and back workout, I'm worn out. I took today off to recover, but it was a great weekend.

The House At The End of the Street and a movie idea

I went to see The House At The End of the Street today after lunch.

The reviews have been pretty bad, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 12% rating currently, but I didn't think it was that bad. The story is of a mom and daughter moving into a pretty ritzy neighborhood only to discover that they live next door to a house where a double-murder occurred. The son of the murdered couple still lives in the house and is shunned by the rich neighbors, which makes the daughter take pity on him. The neighbor has a big secret in that he doesn't necessarily live alone.

The movie dragged a bit here and there, but I thought the acting was good and the plot held some interesting twists along the way so it wasn't too predictable. I don't think it's a movie to buy, but I'd watch it again.

Of course, as it my lot in life, there were talkers. There was only five people in the matinee -- me, a couple, and what I think was a mother-daughter pair. The mother-daughter, I'll call them Carol and Marsha, could have sat anywhere in the theater, but they chose the row and seats in front of me. They whispered, but they whispered a lot! I was half-tempted to tell them to go get coffee and chat instead of doing it in the theater.

Then it hit me, the perfect idea for a horror movie. A man loses his mind in a theater because he is surrounded by teenagers and college students, all of whom are texting, talking, etc., during the flick. He picks a Friday night when the movie shows a horrible PG-13 horror movie starring Miley Cyrus, dresses like an usher, and begins eliminating his targets. He can shove a cell phone down the throat of one chatty Cathy, strangle one dude with his red vines, drown another with his large Coke (refills are free of course). I would call it "The House of The Usher" or something equally as bad.

Scoff if you wish, but I think this idea could sell! :)